Gauthier: TV advertisers not getting the message

Friday

Aug 31, 2007 at 12:01 AMAug 31, 2007 at 10:51 PM

Give me a choice. Do I want to do my dishes, or do I want to watch the program? Right now, you make it easy for viewers to walk away.

Sometimes, it feels like a coordinated attack, missiles lobbed one after another from the television screen to the eye, the gut, the brain. The only option is retreat, and that's what I do, retreat to the kitchen and wash a few dishes; to the bathroom to load the washing machine or empty the dryer; to the garden to pick a few tomatoes. I check e-mail. I pay bills. I do whatever needs doing.

It's amazing, really, how much a person can get done during commercial breaks.

I thought about that one night during last season's "American Idol.'' Was it my imagination, or was more time spent on commercial breaks than on the actual show? Turns out it's not quite that bad, but close.

By my very unscientific calculations, viewers get about eight minutes of show for every six minutes of commercial. It's not just during "American Idol,'' it's not just a specific station, and it's not just a specific time of day.

We're inundated with television "messages'' that tell us what we should look like, where we should shop, and what we should buy. As the average commercial is just 30 seconds long, we're conceivably exposed to, in just six minutes, as many as 12 different products.

In six minutes, we're told about medication for restless legs and its side effect, which is the urge to gamble or have sex; Betty White sells prescriptions for our animals from a mail-order company; Ford unveils the newest Ford-tough truck; Honda touts its hybrid sedan; Toyota pulls an 18-wheeler from the brink of disaster; Sara Lee tempts us with something we know will be delicious; a former athlete suggests trading junk food for a nutritional food weight-loss system that comes with a guarantee; Clorox makes stains disappear with a swipe and a rub, or is that a carpet cleaner?

Sometimes I find the transition from one commercial to another to be so quick I think they're talking about one product when they're talking about another. The constant stream of words, music and images feels like cruel and unusual punishment, perhaps seen by television stations as the price viewers must pay for the privilege of being entertained.

Take away my television and I'd be mighty upset, I admit that. But they've gone too far, I've rebelled, I'm not the only one, and advertisers are noticing. They spend billions of dollars every year to advertise products on television, and fewer people are listening. They want to know what they can do to catch our attention.

I don't blame them for being concerned. I would be too, if I were spending as much as $2.6 million for 30 seconds of someone's time. Can you believe that that? One 30-second commercial spot during last year's Super Bowl cost $2.6 million. Thirty seconds on "American Idol'' costs advertisers $745,000.

They're spending all that money, and we're not paying attention.

A survey by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and Forrester Research Inc. indicates that 78 percent of marketers feel traditional television advertising has become less effective.

To blame, according to the survey, are the growing number of homes with video-on-demand and DVRs with the digital capacity to pass over commercials. Television networks claim those to be minor annoyances, but advertisers say they'll be spending more of the advertising budget in the coming years in other areas, such as on the Net.

Advertisers can do what they want. It's their money and they've shown no qualms about spending it. Come on - $2.6 million for 30 seconds during Super Bowl! I drink beer, but 30 seconds of foolishness won't compel me to drink more.

I have a suggestion for advertisers that might work, though.

Pay a little more, and insist on shorter commercial breaks. Keep me glued to the screen with the fear I'll miss the next "American Idol'' faux pas, that crucial autopsy finding on "CSI'' or the one line in the movie that explains the entire plot.

Give me a choice. Do I want to do my dishes, or do I want to watch the program? Right now, you make it easy for viewers to walk away.

Get the message?

Deb Gauthier of The MetroWest (Mass.) Daily News can be reached by e-mail at dgauthie@cnc.com.

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